Operation: Grocery (Prime Now vs Instacart)

I haven't left my home in more than four weeks. I can count on one hand the number of people I've interacted with, in real life. All of my face-to-face interactions have one thing in common, they bring me food, groceries, and other things to eat.

For me, it's not as bad as it sounds. I have gone days without seeing daylight, while under the ocean in a submarine. Plus, I spent a year out at sea and I've gone many weeks without standing on land or venturing more than 200' from my bed. So, I can sit still. I can be a human being instead of a human doing.

Since I work from home, I see my coworkers everyday in face to face meetings, online. And, like many others, I attend online happy hours with friends and coworkers on most days of the week.

Amazon Prime Now vs Instacart

The only thing I need, from time to time, is food. My best option is to have it delivered which has been working well with Amazon Prime Now and InstaCart. I've noticed a couple key differences between these two services.

I've been using Prime Now for several years. Amazon always seems to know what they have in stock, so what I order is delivered when I place my grocery order. However, it's been a couple weeks since I've been able to get a delivery window with Prime Now. So, I moved to an alternative, Instacart.

I've had a couple deliveries through Instacart. They don't always know what they'll have in stock, a couple days out. But they have a shopper who alerts me when they start shopping. Through the Instacart app, I can chat with my personal shopper regarding replacements. It works very nicely, albeit, Instacart is more expensive than Prime Now. 

The best part is that I can continue to add items to my Instacart order up until the moment my shopper begins filling the cart. That's come in very handy as I've realized that I've forgotten items in the days leading up to the delivery. More expensive, but more personal. That works for me.

Are You or Your Clients New to Working From Home? (Eye contact)

Click to see "Working Virtually Part 1"

Is your company new to working-from-home via teleconferencing?

One important point I can't stress enough, to set the tone for a close culture while apart, is to insist on using video.

I'm surprised how many people go out of their way to not use video. Look people in the eye. There's a lot more value than people realize.

Before entering a crosswalk, you'll look at a driver in the approaching car to make eye contact. The silent conversation goes something like this.

"Do you see me?" asks the pedestrian.

"Yes, I see you," answers the car driver.

"Great. Now I'm stepping out into the crosswalk in front of your car. Please don't run me over."

That entire conversation takes place with a momentary glance. That value also translates to teleconferencing. Do it via video.

We spend a lot of time looking at e-mail, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, computer code, etc. People are a company's most important asset, so don't forget to look at them, too.